Chapter 5 - Ready, Set, Go!

Winter 2027

It was an unusually warm day for December. Ted pulled into the driveway of his home and stepped out of the car, breathing in the fresh air and smiling to himself. It had been a great day all around. He had only had one class today, so instead of catching up on work like he normally did on Fridays, he decided to come home and enjoy the weather, because he knew it could change in the blink of an eye. He smiled again and started walking towards the house. He was fishing his keys out of his pocket when he heard noises coming from inside the house. He thought this strange because the kids would still be at school. He was even further perplexed when he noticed that the door was unlocked. He slowly opened the door, and heard what sounded like muffled crying coming from the study. He walked in to see Robin, crying softly, curled on a ball on his couch.

"Robin? Are you ok?"

"Oh! Ted, I thought you wouldn't be here until after 3. What are you doing here?", she asked, as she attempted to regain her composure.

"Well, I live here. The real question is why are you sitting on my couch, in the middle of the day, crying?"

Robin turned red rimmed eyes to Ted and started to cry in earnest again. Ted put his arm around her and let her cry, something he had done countless times before. When she finally stopped, she looked up at Ted again and began to speak. "Well, I talked to my bosses at WWN and asked to be assigned to an anchor position with little to no travel. I'm ready to be done with that lifestyle. I just want to be able to relax. I'm almost 50, so I figured it was a good time to slow down. They completely understood, and I am now hosting the WWN Nightly News at 7 pm."

"Well, that's awesome! Penny and Luke will be thrilled to have Aunt Robin around more! The question remains… why the tears?"

Robin blew her nose, and continued. "Well, you know that Eddie and I have been seeing each other for years off and on. Well, about a year ago, when we started up again, Eddie wanted me to settle down and begin a real relationship. I told him to give me some time, but I would be ready soon. He kept bringing it up, nicely, but he kept bringing it up. So after I had everything squared away at work, I rushed over to his apartment to tell him the good news, because I knew he had today off. So I walk in, and I hear noises coming from his bedroom-"

"Oh, no…"

"Ohhhh, yeah. I walk in and he is doin' the dirty with some blonde bimbo. She screams, Eddie jumps, I start yelling. It's just a mess. It turns out he has been seeing us both for the last six months. So, I dumped him on the spot."

"Robin, I am so sorry. What an ass."

"Yeah, he is. Anyway, I left, and tried Lily first, but she wasn't there, and then I called Barney, but he was busy with a school field trip with Ellie, so I didn't have anywhere else to go. I really thought we could make something work." And with that, she began to cry again.

Ted put his arm around her once more, and let her finish crying, while he discretely texted the group to come to his house tonight for dinner.

HIMYM

That night's dinner was quite the shindig, with all the friends and their various kids dining on a feast of pizza from Lucio's. Robin had quickly told the story to the other adults who had commiserated with her on Eddie's foolishness. After they were done eating, they all went home, save Robin who stayed to help with clean up. "Ted, where do you want the boxes?"

"Just put them off to the side of the door. I need to take out the garbage anyway," Ted shouted from the bathroom. He came out to find the kitchen nearly clean. "Wow, thanks Robin. You saved me a ton of work." He smiled. "Well, it's getting pretty late. Do you just want to stay in the guest room?"

Robin looked at the concern and open friendliness on Ted's face, and felt something stir that she hadn't felt in a long, long time. It frightened her to the bone. "No, that's ok. I just kinda want to be in my own bed tonight."

"Okay. Do you need me to call you a cab?"

"No, I'm going to walk to the train. It's only a few blocks. Thanks, Ted, for everything. It was a great night." She hugged him quickly and left. As she walked, she began to think about what had just happened. What the hell, self. You haven't felt like that about Ted in years. Wait… I get it. You're still feeling vulnerable and helpless after all that crap with Eddie, and since Ted was there you were just transferring those feelings. Yeah, that's it. She hugged her coat around her as the wind grew colder. That has to be it. Yup. Not gonna fall for that trap again, no sir. As she boarded the train, she wondered just how long she would be able to lie to herself.

April 2028

Ted was frantically searching his bedroom for his keys, as they were well past time to be getting on the road to Farhampton. He still felt nervous about going there, as he had not been back since just before Tracy had died. He would never step foot in the inn again, so he and his friends had rented a large vacation home instead. "Penny, Luke, have you seen my keys?"

"No, Dad, hurry up and find them. We're missing the fun!" Luke yelled up the stairs.

Ted then noticed his keys sticking out of the pocket of the jeans he had worn yesterday, grabbed them and ushered his kids to the car. "Next stop, Farhampton!"

HIMYM

Almost three hours later, Ted pulled into the driveway of the vacation home. The beachfront, 6 bedroom home was huge and awe inspiring. Ted got the bags out of the back of the car and hurried his kids inside so they could begin their vacation. "We're here!"

The other kids came running into the room followed by their parents. "What took you so long?" Lily asked.

"Lost my keys."

"Let me guess. They were in your pants pocket from yesterday, right?" smirked Robin as she hugged Penny and Luke.

"How did you know?"

"Ted, since I've known you, every time you've lost your keys, they've been in the pocket of your previous days pants. Every single time"

Marshall chimed in "Yeah, even when we were in college, that's where they would be. It was especially hard to find them after we had eaten a couple sandwiches."

"Why would sandwiches make it difficult to find something, Dad?" asked 16-year-old Marvin.

Marshall panicked and looked to Lily for help. "Well, your father, Uncle Ted and I used to eat these really big sandwiches, and afterwards, we'd be really tired… because we were so full." She hurriedly said. The adults all looked at each other with various looks of relief as the kids dropped the subject.

HIMYM

Lily, Marshall, and Ted were all turning 50 that year, so they had decided to celebrate together while on their vacation. They got a large cake and were enjoyed themselves immensely. After the kids were in bed and they were all enjoying a drink, there was a knock at the door. Barney ran to the door, could be heard quietly talking to someone, and then rushed back into the room. "Everyone, I've been waiting to do this, but I couldn't wait anymore. I've got an announcement to make. I'm getting married." The only sound in the room was the shattering of Lily's glass as she had dropped it in her shock. "I know this is shocking news to you, but I've been with her now for over a year. I thought, since we are all together this weekend, it would be the perfect time to tell you."

The group's looks of shock then extended to Robin, as she sipped at her scotch.

"What? Barney already told me."

"I told Robin first, because I didn't want it to be weird. So guys, don't make it weird!"

Ted spoke first. "Barney, this is great. I never thought you would settle down again. Has she met Ellie?"

"Met her, loves her. She also has a kid, his name is Ben. Do you guys want to meet her? She's right outside. That was the knocking a few minutes ago."

"We figured that much out, Barney," said Lily. "Go get her."

Barney went out to the door, and came back with a very familiar face.

"QUINN?"

A/N Yes, Barney and Quinn are back together. And in my universe, they are gonna make it. I am setting things up to be able to write a companion piece to this story about Barney, If I have the time and inclination to do so. As for Robin and Ted, this is just the beginning twinges of what we see in the finale. It will ramp up a bit in the next chapter, and the chapter after that is when things will explode. Thanks for reading and Review!